I HAVE 43 FIRST COUSINS

Do you cousins?  I have 43 first cousins.

My dad's sister has four: Julia, Shawn, Dana and Erin.

My mother is a Mickler, and with her sisters and brothers, there are 40 first cousins!  

This picture is of aunts, uncles, 1st and 2nd cousins, plus some other relatives at a Mickler Family Reunion.  Photo taken several years ago.

Cousins, one family per line with surname:

Phillip, Shirley, Newmy, Larry, Alfred*, Debbie (Mickler)

Leroy, Barbara Jean*, Lee, Frederick (Hartley)

Randy, Pam (Greene)

Terry, Billy, Charles, Peggy (Riley)

Chucky, Susie (Mickler)

Raymond, Patrick, Stephen, Nancy, Cathy, Jamie* (Mickler)

Kathie, Patty, Marty (Wise)

Susan, Julie, Richard, Chris (Johnson)

Johnny, Chris, Beth (Mickler)

Karen, Sharon, Keith (Howard)

Shannon, Joseph "Bubba", Michelle (Mickler)

*Barbara Jean died as a new infant, Alfred died of crib death around age one, and Jamie had a fatal car accident at age 18.

Amylose Free Diet

AMYLOSE FREE DIET - High Carbohydrate, High Protein and Low Fat. 

Lose the Weight You Hate by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker

Copied from LiveStrong website:

Starch, the primary form of stored carbohydrate in plants, consists of two chemical compounds, amylose and amylopectin. While amylose makes up 10 to 20 percent of natural starches, amylopectin accounts for the remaining 80 to 90 percent. Amylose, which is a straight-chain molecule, takes longer to digest than amylopectin, a multi-branched molecule. Lower or eliminating amylose intake may be beneficial for hypoglycemics, dieters, athletes and others who need quick energy from the food they eat.

Do not skip meals.  Eat 3 meals a day.  The starvation response burns calories from muscles not fat.

Eat adequate amounts of protiens: lean meat and eggs. 

Eat adequate amounts of fruits, but NO bananas

Eat plenty of vegetables, but NO root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, etc.)

Be careful with fats and milk intake.  Limit cheeses and yogurt.  You can eat almonds, cashews and pistachio nuts.

You can eat quinoa , corn, popcorn, baked corn chips, tortilla chips, corn taco shells, corn pasta,  sugar free corn flakes (Natures Path) and grits.  All legumes/beans are okay.

Spices and condiments are okay.

Drink Water! Coffee and unsweet Tea are okay.   Diet soft drinks, but only rarely. 

Moderation in eating includes: eating good food, prepared well, presented pleasingly and eaten with gusto not gluttony.

Avoid starches and breads.  Avoid all cereal grains, breads, pastas, cookies, crackers and cakes.  Avoid wheat, rice, oats, barley, rye, etc.  These are the biggest food problems.

Avoid root vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, yucca, etc.

Avoid sweets; sugars and hidden sugars like dextrose, sucrose, corn syrup and maltodextrin.  Read all labels and avoid all foods with these ingredients. No chocolate, no candy bars and no health/nutrition bars.

No sugary sodas.  No commercial fruit juices - fresh squeezed.

Butt-itis

I am a candle-gainer. You have to dip and dip and dip to get a candle fat enough to be worthwhile.  I'm worthwhile and then some!  When I gain weight, it doesn't go one place, but like a candle, the fat evenly coats my entire body and isn't really noticeable until I've gained an extra ten.  And I think, eh, I will diet next month.

Do you know people that, when they gain weight, they gain it in one place first and it's totally evident that she's been doing some serious eating?   You see a friend you haven't seen in a month, and there's some major badonkadonk going on, and you think, "HOLY COW!  What happened to your behind?!"  I wish so much that when I put on an extra five pounds that I'd get a case of "butt-itis" so severe, nobody could miss that I'd been putting away the groceries, including me.  Inspiration to diet, or not gain in the first place!

So today I had a doctor's appointment with my family doctor.  Dr. Shaw has been treating my family for the entire 24 years we've lived in Apopka.  It was a good appointment, like visiting an old friend.  Like the woman in the mirror, I've watched Dr. Shaw get older and fatter.  We discussed my weight, and I am going to join a program in his office to drop that 40 that somehow creeped onto me like dipping a candle.  I asked the doctor if he was on the program and he laughed, "No, I like to eat too much!"   He did tell me that, although I am fat, I am absolutely the healthiest he's seen in the 24 years I've been his patient.  It's true!  I no longer am going to the rheumatologist, am taking minimal medicine, only when I need it (for RA), and the only other med I need are daily hormones.  Three cheers for hysterectomies!

So I start the diet program with an appointment on Monday.  My inspiration, besides wishing to wear size six (I am only 5'2" - that's the size I should wear) instead of 14,  is first and foremost to take some great photos in a gorgeous dress at Robert and Vanessa's October wedding.  My other inspiration is a trip to Jamaica with my skinny friend  Bonnie in April.  How much can I knock off by April??  Go to church, light a candle, and pray for me!